Government in the United States, National, State and LocalGarner, James Wilford
History
Government in the United States, National, State and Local
Garner, James Wilford
United States -- Politics and government
_Naturalization Law._--To acquire citizenship in this way, they must
reside here for a period of five years, they must also be persons of
good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution and
well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. Under the law
of 1906 they must also be able to write their own language and be able
to read and speak English. Two steps are necessary in the procedure of
naturalization: first the applicant must go before a federal court or a
court of record in some state and make oath that he is at least eighteen
years of age, and that it is his intention to become a citizen of the
United States. At the same time he must renounce all allegiance to the
foreign state of which he is a citizen or subject and must furnish the
court with a variety of information concerning his past life, including
the date of his arrival in the United States and the name of the ship on
which he arrived. He is then furnished with a certificate which is
popularly known as his "first papers." When he has resided in the United
States at least five years and possesses all the necessary
qualifications the court will issue him a certificate of naturalization
which makes him a citizen. Fees amounting to five dollars are now
charged for filing the petition and issuing the final certificate. In
order to prevent the wholesale naturalization of aliens in the large
cities for election purposes, the law provides that no certificate of
naturalization shall be granted within thirty days prior to any general
election. Any honorably discharged alien from the United States army may
be admitted to citizenship after a residence of one year, and the
preliminary declaration of intention is not required of aliens who have
served five years in the navy.
_Disqualifications._--In addition to the qualifications mentioned above,
there are certain disqualifications which serve to debar many foreigners
from acquiring American citizenship. Thus only white persons and persons
of African nativity are capable of being naturalized under our laws, so
that those belonging to the Mongolian or other races, such as Chinese,
Japanese, Burmese, and East Indians, cannot become citizens of the
United States unless born here. Other persons excluded for different
reasons are polygamists, anarchists, and certain other classes of
criminals who are not considered worthy to enjoy the high privileges of
citizenship.
The naturalization of a husband makes the wife and minor children
citizens, so that they do not have to go through the process of taking
out their "papers."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account